A new study says budget woes that have forced newsrooms across the United States to lay off reporters and spend less on their coverage are sending viewers and readers to emerging online forms of learning about the day's news.
The non-partisan Pew Research Center issued its yearly report on the U.S. news industry Monday, saying nearly a third of people it surveyed stopped going to a particular news source because it no longer offered the information it once did.
The report cites the tangible effects of the cutbacks, with fewer reporters to look deeply into stories, and television news programs showing fewer stories that are shorter in length. It says cable channels, such as cnn, are airing more interviews and less of the day-to-day live news that once played a much larger role in their coverage.
On the local level, young people are fleeing television news broadcasts, with viewership among those under age 30 dropping from 42 percent in 2006 to 28 percent last year.